Monkeys, ferrets and snapping turtles are among the animals that are illegal as pets in California – but people try to keep them anyway, judging from the number of exotic creatures that end up with local or state animal-control authorities, rehabilitation centers, and private zoos.

Three monkeys belonging to Wendelin Ringel, whose state veterinary license was revoked in 2009, were handed over to state Fish and Wildlife wardens Tuesday after one of the monkeys, a capuchin named Baby G, bit a woman outside a Cherry Valley pizzeria Sunday.

Baby G is in a mandatory six-month rabies quarantine, and the other two monkeys, another capuchin and a tamarin, were impounded because Ringel could not produce permits allowing her to own the animals, according to authorities.

Ringel will have to get permits if she wants to regain the monkeys, but that will be difficult.

“You have to have a specific reason to have an exotic animal in California. They are not allowed as pets,” said Andrew Hughan of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“It’s a constant inspection process; there has to be a certain acreage; cages have to be of a certain size and a certain distance from other cages,” he said.

The three monkeys are being kept at an unidentified facility in Riverside, Hughan said.

“We are investigating for other possible fish and game code violations,” he said.

Ringel has not been cited, Hughan added, and she could not be reached for comment.

Hughan said he could not recall any prosecution of people for illegal possession of exotic animals. The usual process is to remove the animals or revoke a permit if a person is found to have violated it.

‘DON’T MAKE GOOD PETS’

Joe Camp, whose private Jungle Exotics reserve in Devore makes animals available for movies and television, has been a trainer and caretaker of monkeys and chimpanzees since 1975.

“Unless you have a real legitimate reason to own one, (monkeys) don’t make good pets,” Camp said Wednesday.

“Little monkeys aren’t like little kids. They are animals who bite people, and even good trainers have to be very careful. It can be somewhat deceptive because they can be gentle one minute, and then they are not. But they are not people, they are monkeys.”

Some of the animals on California’s banned-as-pets list are familiar: alligators, raccoons, skunks, hedgehogs, chipmunks and squirrels. Some are predictable: No African lions, caimans or gars, please. Others are truly exotic – a Gambian giant pouched rat is forbidden as a pet, but you’ll have to find one first.

The one on the list that has advocates and opponents bristling with the kind of fervor usually reserved for issues such as taxes and health care is the ferret.

California and Hawaii are the only two states that still ban the animal, although advocates for ferrets have made several unsuccessful attempts in the California Legislature to legalize the weasel cousins.

State wildlife officials have said ferrets are a threat to poultry and some native animals, including ground-nesting birds. Ferret advocates offer counter-claims that the threat is unsubstantiated.

Pat Wright, founder of LegalizeFerrets.org, said Wednesday that his group hopes that prospective legalization of ferrets in New York City may boost another California effort.

EXOTIC ENCOUNTERS

Riveside County Department of Animal Services spokesman John Welsh said that department’s officers encounter exotic animals about once a month. Examples would be a deer in Glen Avon or a stray alligator in Desert Hot Springs.

“Some of the odd stuff is out in the desert,” he said.

Hughan of the state Fish and Wildlife agency said wardens in recent years have recovered an ocelot in Long Beach, “and there was a Ventura case where a guy had a tiger in his backyard.” There also was that capybara in San Luis Obispo County.

Some of the animals end up at rehabilitation facilities or at zoos, which can keep them if they cannot be returned to the wild.

“We have an African serval, a bobcat that was declawed and several raccoons that people tried to raise, and a golden eagle that was confiscated,” said Christy McGiveron, lead keeper at the Moonridge Animal Park in Big Bear. “There is a handful that were illegal pets” among the zoo’s animals.

‘NOT FAIR TO THE ANIMAL’

“Half of these people who have these animals illegally, if they spent two hours learning about them, they would never keep them as pets,” said Dominique Ferraro at Zebras R Us in Nuevo.

Her operation, which sells zebras and camels, does not have any state-permit-required animals, but Ferraro said training in specialized care always is the priority for unusual stock.

Having a non-permitted animal that gets reported and removed means a bad ending for both the creature and the person who owns it, Ferraro said.

“It ruins your life and the animal’s life,” she said. “It will break your heart and the animal’s heart, too. It’s not fair to the animal.”

Three monkeys were handed over to state Fish and Wildlife wardens Tuesday after one of the animals bit a woman outside a Cherry Valley pizzeria. COURTESY OF CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
Ferrets are illegal in California, but many people still keep them as pets. State wildlife officials say they are a threat to poultry and some native animals, including ground-nesting birds. FILE: THE REGISTER

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